Jamie Carragher have slammed VAR after Bournemouth defender Marco Senesi escaped punishment for what appeared to be a deliberate handball in Liverpool’s Premier League opener.
The incident occurred in the 14th minute when Senesi’s poor touch almost played Hugo Ekitike through on goal.
In an attempt to recover, the Argentine reached out and used his arm to stop the ball, but referee and VAR officials allowed play to continue, awarding Bournemouth a free-kick after Cody Gakpo’s subsequent handball.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot and his players protested, but VAR upheld the on-field decision.
The Premier League later explained that the handball was not considered deliberate enough for a review and that Ekitike was too far from goal for it to constitute denial of a goalscoring opportunity.
On commentary duty for Sky Sports, Carragher disagreed strongly: “That’s handball. He knows exactly what he’s doing, it’s his reaction as a defender. The information the referee got there was not correct.”
Liverpool went on to win 4-2, with Ekitike scoring his first Premier League goal before Cody Gakpo, Federico Chiesa, and Mohamed Salah completed the rout.
Although Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo scored twice in response, the visitors’ fightback fell short.